Recently, juniors from schools from all over the CCSD district have taken an important test called the ACT’s. Other grades were scheduled not to attend school on March 12, 2019, which was when the ACT’s took place.

I took the time to interview many people on how they were feeling about the test, and many had alot to say.

My friends from different schools were struggling with their preparedness with this test. It wasn’t surprising being that this test definitely put alot of its weight on us due to the fact that it was made for high schoolers who wanted to go to college.

We were graded a certain amount of points for each test which included four parts. It contained English, a writing portion, Science and Math. For many, math was the hardest section to tackle.

“I only got to question 10 before the timer went up for math,” says a student who would like to remain anonymous.

Each portion of the test was timed, and they unfortunately didn’t give us alot of time either.

“I went to the ACT bootcamp and I still had a hard time. Hopefully I can retake it again next year,” says another student.

I would say that the teachers tried their best to prepare their students with the ACT’s, and many students were grateful for that.

Mr. Panther was on Wednesday, March 6 at 6:30 pm in the theatre. The show opened up with all the agents dancing to the 007 intro song, “Keke Do You Love Me,”“Pony,” “Pretty Boy Swag,” and “Don’t Stop the Music.”

A video, that has the theme of interrogation, of all the contests being asked questions was played. The questions what is your best feature, what’s your favorite movie, and what’s your secret lead to some hilarious answers from the boys, such as Agent 1511’s secret that he has been doing pageants since he was two years old.

After the video, the judges were introduced. The judges were Jillian Lopez, Miranda Lopez (both Palo alum) Kaithlyn Domingo (creator of the “Define Yourself”), and Paige Melanson, who was Ms. Las Vegas 2016, Kopy, who is the coordinator for the High School Jesters Improv League, and SWAT officer Levi Hancock who unfortunately got called into work and couldn’t make it to the show.

After the judges were introduced, the Agents showed off their best pickup lines to Ashna Prabhu. One of the highlights being Agent Primetime dressed as Superman jumping on a trampoline and telling her that tonight he is her man.

Next was the bidding for the boys’ picture and the introduction of the silent auction in the lobby and the prizes that the audience could win which included: a photography session, a private yoga trainer, a movie basket, a free retainer, a haircut and color, pop drinks, Fabulous Freddy’s car washes, one hope wine and more.

Agent Smooth Operator sang “Loving is Easy” by Rex Orange County.

Then Agent 1511 dances the funny well known Napoleon Dynamite dance.

After that performance, Agent Jawnjawnjawn takes the stage and plays the piano.

Next came a shocking act as the audience watched in amazement as Agent Rubio shaved all his hair off.

After that came the strangest performance of the entire show. Agent “Errrr Errrr” and Agent Special Agent Oso along with two of their friends and spat water like a fountain and food towards the audience and at each other, all while an orchestra version of “My Heart Will Go On” played.

After that, it was the intermission.

I talked to Agent Rubio (Evan Kralick) about his experience in the show he said: “his favorite part has been getting closer to all of the other guys because we have spent a lot of time together.”

The final contestants Agent Bubbles, Agent Curly Fry, Agent WuTang Lang, Agent Smooth Operator, and Agent Primetime were asked to describe their dream date and the usual if you were stuck on an island what would you bring question.

Second runner up was Agent Bubbles and the first runner up was Agent WuTang Lang.

The new Mr.Panther of 2019 is Agent Primetime (Karsonne Winters)!

Mr. Panther was truly “about the journey and not the destination,” stated Agent 1511 (Christian Isi).

Mr. Panther was a very entertaining show and a brilliant return of a Palo tradition.

As a high school student and soon to be college attendee, the college admissions process never leaves the back of our mind. Since stepping foot in high school, everyone around us is constantly checking off boxes from a list they believe will lead them to their top college choice. These goals and activities include a high level course load, extracurricular activities, involvement in sports, community service, leadership positions, and much more. There is no doubt that stress haunts every high school student who hopes to attend college after graduation. While it’s evident that determined students in every high school put themselves through what they believe will benefit them in the future, a quirk in the admission process tips the scale. Should the fact that a parent or ancestor attended a student’s dream school raise their chance of acceptance?

Legacy is an unfair aspect of the college admission process, giving more of a chance to the students who had alumni parents compared to those who didn’t. If you have two students who are equally as hard working, academically successful and well rounded, it’s likely that legacy will be used as the tie-breaker. But what exactly is legacy?

A legacy is someone who is related to an alumnus of a school — usually a child of the graduate. This isn’t just a policy of top schools like Harvard, either. According to a 2018 survey of admissions directors by Inside Higher Ed, forty-two percent of private institutions and 6 percent of public institutions factor legacy into admissions. This process will always benefit already privileged students. If your parent went to Harvard, it follows that you’d already be in a fairly good position to get into an elite college, because you’d have the benefit of intimate knowledge of that system. Therefore, legacy is like an extra bonus for an already shining application. Also, wouldn’t a student who hasn’t been lucky enough to have parents with a prestigious college degree have more to gain from one?

About 14% of Harvard’s student body are legacy students. These students are still a minority of their campuses, but they represent a deeper issue in American society as a whole. They are members of a self-sustaining aristocracy, as outdated as the racial prejudices that ushered them into the halls of power a century ago. The admissions process should be fair, not influenced by a birth lottery. Enough of this world benefits those born into power. Why must the college admissions process do so as well?

Oh, how the tables have turned! After a long six years, the Jonas Brothers have officially ended their hiatus. Releasing their first single as a reunited group, “Sucker” has shocked fans only leaving a craving for more.

The music video features colorful, opulent scenes of all Jonas brothers and their significant others at a lavish palace as they sing about being a “sucker” for their women.

The line “I am a sucker for all the subliminal things no one knows about you,” truly sums up just how each of the Jonas’ feel about their special loved one, only adding a true, love spin on the upbeat, catchy tune.

As a surprise drop on the whole world, the Jonas brothers have not failed to ignite fans with excitement. The song is the perfect combination of a sweet and sour pop-rock tune tributing their first go at a band.

Finding a love for the band around 2008 due to Camp Rock, only made their return more special with adding on to their playlist of feel-good tunes and bops. The song displays the ability to reshape themselves musically with a new, fresh sound, ditching the heartbroken and sad boy tune.

The opening scenes of the music video features the brothers wearing eye-catching entities of a red, unique suit jacket for Kevin, all red clothing for Nick, and a classic black jacket topped on a turtleneck for Joe. Throughout the video, each couple gets a chance to hold the spotlight before they all come together for a painted portrait in which they pose for.

As if the song itself was not enough, James Corden is hosting a dedicated a week to the Jonas Brothers on The Late Late Show. Now, excited fans get to anticipate an episode of Corden’s famous “carpool karaoke” for the band.

While the break was long to bear, the response and comeback was well worth the wait and “Sucker” only hinted at future music that will continue to shock the fans.

Our new 2019 lady panthers softball team was announced this week and we are thrilled to see how amazing this team will do this season.

“I’m ecstatic for the upcoming softball season and I’m loving my new teammates. I am loving my new fun and sweet teammates. I just know playing with them this season will be the best,” said Senior Maddison Hearn.

Last season, our girls were champions in the Northwest League of Nevada with winning 30 games and only losing 9 games.

The head coach, Kelly Glass is thrilled to be starting the season with such amazing girls.

“I think this season is going to go very well, i’m very excited for this new team. We have a lot of new faces, but we also have some veterans that are ready to lead the way,” said Glass.

When finding out the girls made the team, the girls got gift bags that included a lot of goodies including chips, candy, a water bottle, hand sanitizer, tissues, and much more.

“I was so happy that Coach Glass went out of her way to surprise the girls who made the team with these cute gift bags, I’m so excited for this season with my new team,” said Freshmen Rylee O’Neal.

Recently, Apple has come out with new technology allowing people to have group facetime calls. At first, everything seemed fine with the new update, but then people started to notice some unpleasant features.

Apparently, when a person went to make a facetime call, they could listen in, hear, and see the person they were calling even before the other had answered the call.

This bug temporarily allowed those making a facetime call to unintentionally spy on whoever they were calling.

According to Engadget “Grant Thompson and his mother, Michele spent more than a week trying to contact Apple but didn’t make much progress with the company while trying to report the bug.”

The 14-year-old boy apparently discovered the bug on January 20 when attempting to make a group facetime call.

Since then, Apple has disabled the new group facetime feature and is trying to fix the problem.

February 1st of this year myself and a few other kids that work on the newspaper took a trip to San Francisco. We were to take a 12 hour bus there and back. As fun as it was, I learned a few things about how to have a fun and safe trip in the future.

Make sure at least one responsible adult has an understanding of the shenanigans about to go down. If something would have happened I don’t know what we would’ve done if our families weren’t informed ahead of time.

The buddy system- Make sure you are with someone at all times. Trips are no fun anyways without others, they aren’t safe either for girls or boys.

Look up the weather ahead of time, being too cold or hot will definitely make the trip less fun.

Bring more money than you need or you think you’ll need. Accidents happen and it would be rough to be stuck somewhere you’ve never been.

Make sure everyone in the group knows where they are spending the night but also your first destination. You can figure everything else when you get there for more spontaneity, but make sure you have someplace to go to begin with.

Don’t start drama. We’re in high school, let loose, be kind and have fun!

Don’t over pack, think carefully about the outfit you want to wear and stick with it. Don’t bring 10 different outfits. You’re probably going to shop so save space.

Don’t under pack. If it’s winter bring a jacket even if you think you can handle it. Or and extra pair of shorts. Bring toiletries as well because after a long day of touristing around, you are going to feel gross.

Bring portable chargers! By the end of the trip if your phone is dead, you are never going to want to go home.

Ariel Pink is a Los Angeles-based one-man band who completely breaks through musical barriers. Albums full of sound experiments, hypnotic tunes, and home-recorded styled songs are what set him apart from typical artists.

Ariel Rosenberg, also known as Ariel Pink, is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter who was greatly influenced from 1970s-1980s pop radio and cassette culture. His lo-fi aesthetic and home-recorded albums proved influential to many Indie artists in the late 2000s. Ariel Pink is often cited as “the godfather” of the hypnagogic pop and chillwave movements. He began experimenting with music as a teenager, his influences being artists such as Michael Jackson, the Cure, and R. Stevie Moore.

Ariel Pink’s album “Pom Pom” was released in 2014 and is exactly what everyone wanted to hear from him. 17 songs full of unique beats and broad array of meanings show his evolving style. Ariel Pink really shows the influence he got from 60s styled tunes. The instrumentals are what make Ariel’s songs so eccentric.

Pom Pom was his first album that really broke through the dome of ideas he had been building up in his past albums. With songs like “Lipstick” that contain an electric sound with magical effects. “Put Your Number In My Phone” is another song from the album that has this raspy old-recording sound to it that makes it such an enjoyable sound. An occuring noise from this album is the old fashioned and catchy melodies that make you want to listen to more.

Years after Pom Pom was released, a new album came out, Dedicated To Bobby Jameson. It was very noticeable that his style didn’t change much, but in my opinion, that’s a good thing. He found the style he had been looking for in Pom Pom, which matched him so well and kept bringing people back. This album was almost for himself, to show the changes and transitions he’d gone through regarding his musical style. This album seems a lot more intimate, with slower and cozier songs. This album is strange, no doubt, with a creepy sound from “Santa’s in the Closet” to a more relaxed tone in “Feels Like Heaven.” With such quirky experimental sounds, one does not expect to be hit with strong lyrics, but Ariel delivers. Just as much as he jokes in his songs, he gives this album a prevailing mood of loss and mixing into modern society.

Ariel Pink is an artist that will make you feel like you’ve discovered something, although his music is not for everyone. His vibrant and bipolar musical shifts make him different and an individual in the music industry. You should definitely give him a listen.

Favorite Songs: Another Weekend, Girl in a Tree, Mature Theme, Feels Like Heaven

Death from Above 1979 consists of Sebastian Grainger and Jesse F. Keeler. Two close friends who met and subsequently decided to form a two-man band in the year 2001. The two (Grainger, being the drummer and vocalist of the duo, and Keeler, specializing in the bass and synth) don’t seem like your typical underground rock band but are hardly like anything you’ve heard before.

The band originally rode on the wave of indie and garage rock of the early ‘00s with other more notable groups, such as the Black Keys, White Stripes, and Queens of the Stone Age. As per usual to these musicians, their influence relies heavily on punk, heavy/hard rock, early-indie, and practically all ‘90s era rock. However, Death From Above’s inspiration is the only thing in common with these other bands since their style is so widely different.

This duo emphasizes the “dirty” in Dirty Rock and their first album “You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine” is the band’s style down to its roots. It’s rough around the edges and bitter-sweet. With rebellious instrumentals and scratchy vocals, Death From Above’s debut is definitely a product of its time. A recurring detail in the lyrical work for not only this album but their whole discography is, surprisingly, a romantic undertone. Most of their songs refer to love, romance, and heartbreak, with the rest containing somewhat-provocative songwriting (save for the latest album).

Their sophomore album, “The Physical World”, is when you start appreciating the band’s phenomenal instrumental-work. Listening to this album, I noticed that it had much of a refined and smoother sound to it than the first one. It’s definitely easier to digest for those who are new to the duo. What really shines in the second record is the band’s faith to their style that had originally gained them the fame they received from their start, which is something all musicians often struggle with. Although, this doesn’t mean their music contains no diversity. In fact, the roughness of the first album is distilled into new experimentation with their instrumentals in this one. “The Physical World” is most definitely a good introduction to the band’s style.

“Outrage! Is Now” is their latest and most experimental album. Ironically, I consider it the most accessible of the three records and definitely my favorite. The production value of this record is off the charts and a returning influence on intense guitar riffs and drum tracks from their first record return to combine in a punky response to the political havoc of 2014. The band definitely took a risk and reaped awards. “Outrage! Is Now” happens to be their most successful album. However, the band isn’t as nearly appreciated as they should be. If you asked randoms on the street if they knew Death From Above, it would take you a while before you got a “yes”.

Despite their small discography of only three albums, which is evidence of the effort and time they emphasize on quality instead of quantity, they deserve all of the attention they can get. Death From Above 1979 is definitely a “bang for your buck”. I recommend listening to “The Physical World”, “Outrage! Is Now”, and then “You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine”.

The last home game of the season was amazing with our lady Panthers win. Tonight was senior night for the girls and this win was well deserved.

The first quarter started off slowly. Three minutes in and there were no movements and no touchdowns for either team. With 6:50 left on the clock #1 of the Shadow Ridge Mustangs scored a touchdown. This only fueled the Panthers, and the team’s offense grew stronger after this touchdown.

The Mustangs scored the extra point until a holding call against the offense. Then, a 10 yard penalty was held against the Panthers with only 2:55 left on the clock.

But this didn’t shake the panthers.

After the first quarter, the score was 7-0 Mustangs.

Then the second quarter started and right away at 14:50 our panthers scored a well deserved touchdown by our own Mya Boykin.

Then an extra point earned Kayla Scheer with 14:00 left on the clock.

The score was 7-7 at the second quarter with 13:50 left on the clock. There was no action the rest of the second quarter. The two minute warning was called and the defense was doing their work!

The halftime score was 7-7, a tie between the two teams, but the Panthers came out of halftime with a thirst for glory.

Third quarter was under way and with 10 minutes in there was still no change in the score.

After third quarter, the score was still a steady 7-7.

The fourth quarter kick-started when Mya Boykin at 7:30 minutes in scored an incredible touchdown.

The score then was an exciting 13-7 Panthers.

The extra point was then scored by Emily Allan making the newest fourth quarter score, 14-7 Panthers.

Allan said “The game went really well for senior night because we all worked as a team.” The girls worked very well together throughout the whole game and when there was only 2 minutes remaining our Panthers held back the Mustangs.

Senior night ended with success when our Panthers beat the Mustangs 14-7. “The game was a little hectic in the beginning but it sure felt great to win in the end,” said senior Madison Hearn.

The last home game was truly one to remember. I’m very proud of our girls!